Your not alone, some people commenting here are being ridiculous to just be ridiculous. I think any time you have had enough really good things your pallet develops a higher expectation. I find the more that I drink the less I am impressed, I am usually always satisfied just less often surprised. On the brighter side when you do come across a beer that is a shinning example of its style the feeling is a bit more satisfying. Keeps you on the quest.

Perhaps you need to go after a more subtle complexity. Check out Munich dunkels and various bocks, belgian pale ales, and the lower gravity british offerings. They all pack a lot of flavor in a small package, you just have to know how to look for it. It's sorta like the difference between the Andes and the Appalachians. They both offer a diverse ecological and geological study, but one is extreme and the other is gentle.

This is a problem with the American palate overall. We equate bigger with better. It's why every single list of "best beers" is dominated by those with the highest ABV or bigger, boldest flavor profile. It's why our food is simultaneously the sweetest and saltiest across the board. It's just the way it is.

Lately I have had an ever increasing taste for extreme complexiousness (yeah I know the word is complexity but this is too extreme!), so much so that I have a hard time imagining drinking any kind of "simple" beer. I assume others may "suffer" from this affliction as well. Can anyone suggest something simple that might snap me back into reality?

I would highly disagree with this statement in general. Ever had Foie gras or mexican candy? I would argue that there are more additives in our food, but flavor wise I actually think American food is bland and tasteless in comparison to many other cultures. And that's ok, because I detest bland food. American beer until recently was in fact on average, VERY bland. The craft boom seemed to change that for the better, but if you ask me, in many regards, the ideas were actually borne from the love of foreign beer.

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Historically, I agree. American gastronomy is still getting over the convenience food phase of the 50's-70's, where everything was frozen, packaged, precooked, flavorless, and terrible. But if you look at what is going on in contemporary American cooking, particularly in the bigger cities, it's balls to the wall right now, and beer is going in the same direction, bigger, bolder, more intense. Sure, a lot of that drew inspiration from international concepts, as has always been the way in the US, but we've taking them to the extreme... Sometimes it works wonders (Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, for instance)... Sometimes it doesn't (Sam Adams Triple Bock anyone?).

I'm the same way. Usually I'll want to get a beer that has a lot of flavor, over a beer that isn't as tantalizing to the taste buds. Moreso in the winter than in the summer. Summertime I'll be ok with going with SN Pale ale, Goose Island 412, etc. If nothing in particular is offered different during the spring and summer months, then I usually go to DFH 60 Min, SN Pale ale, Torpedo, 90 min, Lagunitas and Threadless.

Amazing beer! I'd judge this higher than most barrel-aged beers and sought-after beers that I've ever had. Sad that on here it's just "good" at a score of 87 - but hey, Anchor can't really complain because it's still the #1 rated California Common (according to BA). Hmmm.. there might be something to this. A beer couldn't even get top 50 in the Imperial IPA, Imperial Stout, or American Barleywine categories with a score of 87. I think one must ask themselves when rating or judging a beer, am I rating this to BJCP style guidelines, or am I rating it in comparison to other beers from other styles across the board? I think you'll find a lot more appreciation for those "simple" styles if you dig into the style guidelines and histories of the styles rather than prejudging them as bland.

I would tell you try drinking seasonally but since it's stout and Belgian Strong Dark season that wouldn't exactly segue you to "simpler" beers. For me, I bounce back and forth between finding those styles enjoyable, complex concoctions and muddled, misguided recipes. Throwing in as many malt characteristics as you can doesn't necessarily make a beer good. I could easily homebrew a beer with tons of malt flavors by using multiple crystal malts and assorted types of roasted malts but it needs to have a synergy. I find more and more "complex" beers to have this fault. That's why Mirror Pond is a top 5 beer to me because it has that beautiful marriage of subtle hop and malt characteristics.

That being said, don't sweat it. You're not a d-bag for having preferences.

Amazing beer! I'd judge this higher than most barrel-aged beers and sought-after beers that I've ever had. Sad that on here it's just "good" at a score of 87 - but hey, Anchor can't really complain because it's still the #1 rated California Common (according to BA). Hmmm.. there might be something to this. A beer couldn't even get top 50 in the Imperial IPA, Imperial Stout, or American Barleywine categories with a score of 87. I think one must ask themselves when rating or judging a beer, am I rating this to BJCP style guidelines, or am I rating it in comparison to other beers from other styles across the board? I think you'll find a lot more appreciation for those "simple" styles if you dig into the style guidelines and histories of the styles rather than prejudging them as bland.

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I would certainly hope it's the highest rated since it's the birth of the style and the beer by which all other Cal Commons should be compared.